The public's choice: O2The survey asked 3,000 members of the UK public to name the mobile phone provider of which they have the highest opinion.

O2 secured 37 per cent of the vote, Orange came second with 22 per cent, and T-Mobile came third with 10 per cent.

Vodafone, which hit the news last week following allegations that the Government let it off a £6bn tax bill, came in fourth place. The public was split on whether it believed the allegations, with 52 per cent saying they thought they were untrue.

But 58 per cent said they did not believe Vodafone’s assertion that the story was just an ‘urban myth’ and that it meets its tax obligations in the UK. A further 35 per cent said they did not trust Vodafone to act honestly and with integrity, and 41 per cent said they believed that large companies like mobile phone providers did not meet their tax obligations, saying they had accountants who got them out of paying big tax bills.